A Jewett City man will face a judge on manslaughter charges on Wednesday and witnesses identified the victim as the suspect's own brother.
John Coddington, 27, of Norwich, died on Tuesday and the last moments of his life were caught on camera as he held his bleeding neck and stumbled into a Griswold convenience store, clinging to life.
The video shows Coddington covered in blood and running across the Best Way Food Store parking lot on North Main Street around noon.
Coddington then walked through the front door, where the store owner brought him outside and called 911.
“He (Coddington) said, 'Help me, help me, help me,'” Sita Ram said.
Coddington’s girlfriend rushed over and blamed Coddington's brother.
“I asked her what happened and she said his brother stabbed a knife in his neck,” Ram said.
Witnesses and friends tried to help Coddington after the fatal assault.
“I started packing whatever I could onto his neck to stop the bleeding,” Shawn Sheltra said.
Sheltra did all he could to try to save his friend, but after the ambulance took Coddington to the hospital, reality set in. She said Coddington is a father of two.
“You got a 2-month-old baby and an 18-month-old baby,” said Sheltra. “Those boys are going to grow up without a father over nothing.”
Neighbors who witnessed the fight between the brothers said that they were arguing at their mother's home just down the way.
Seconds after the stabbing happened, the suspect took off, they said.
“He jumped in a black Durango with three of his friends and took off toward Plainfield,” Matt Benoit said.
Police caught the suspect, Jeffrey Savoy, 22, of Taftville, at 46 Mechanic St. in Jewett City, and charged him with manslaughter.
They did not say if Savoy was related to John Coddington and didn’t release a possible motive.
Savoy is being held at the Troop E barracks on $1 million bond. He is set to appear in court in Norwich on Wednesday.
